Present Company Excepted
by LilacFree
Summary: Time isn't linear, it's braided. Tegan's left the Doctor behind forever but the former Companion's life has at least one more twist left in it. Not far from canon, set postResurrection of the Daleks. Gueststarring Jack Harkness.Slight language warning


Disclaimer: I own Doctor Who. No, not really. The BBC does, darn it. Send them heaps of money.

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Present Company Excepted

Tegan watched the TARDIS dematerialize and then walked away from the warehouse. She felt utterly drained. It was about all she could do to put one foot in front of the other until the mechanical tap-tap of her heels began to spook her. She stopped and leaned against a wall.

The sound stopped, too--a moment after she did. Tegan froze in place. Those duplicate policemen, were they still here? She'd been sure everyone had been killed. Her pulse started to race and her eyes darted from side to side in search of a refuge. This whole block seemed to be only abandoned buildings. She knew better than to go down to the shore. It was just as bleak and empty there, and she'd be trapped with her back to the water. A glance over her shoulder revealed the two sinister policemen who had pursued her before. Tegan burst into flight, her strides so long that her leather skirt kept pinioning her thighs. She couldn't outrun them, and there was no longer any Doctor to show up and save her. _Hide._ She flung herself almost headlong into the first open doorway.

Arms wrapped around her, a hand covered her mouth. She was pulled back from the light, a 'shhhh' breathed in her ear. Though Tegan couldn't be sure this wasn't an enemy, at least this man was going to help her for the moment.

She knew it was a man. She could feel enough of his body against hers, and her senses had registered a male presence in ways she didn't stop to enumerate. The policemen came through the doorway. Tegan froze like a mouse hoping to be overlooked by an owl. The man behind her was silent, but he squeezed her arm gently. Tegan shivered with the release of tension.

It wasn't the Doctor. Though he wasn't much for physical contact, she knew the coolness of the Gallifreyan's hand too well to mistake this firm, warm grip for the Time Lord's. Turlough, maybe (she'd seen the TARDIS leave, but it could turn up anywhere!) or more likely another escaped prisoner like Stien.

Why couldn't the policemen see her? The pale of her face, the white and red on her shirt--she wasn't plunged in darkness. She was standing right out in the open and their gazes simply passed her by. Tegan watched them search the area then leave. She, and the unknown man behind her, waited as the sound of footsteps faded away. An American accented voice murmured in her ear, "You're safe for now, but I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't scream or run. My camouflage screening has limits."

Tegan gave a start of surprise--it might have been any kind of voice, but her nerves were on edge. She turned her head to see her captor. He slowly released her and let her turn all the way around. The man was tall with dark hair. Even in this dim light she could make out regular features and the glint of white teeth as he smiled. He was wearing fairly simple clothes that gave Tegan the impression that they were meant to be anonymous and hard to describe--something any number of men might be wearing in London right now. She also had the impression that he had been sniffing her hair.

Tegan's eyes narrowed. "Who are you with? You're not military. Were you a prisoner?"

"Just an interested observer. Call me Jack," he replied with deliberate nonchalance.

"If you were only an observer you wouldn't have helped me. Not that I'm complaining. My name's Tegan."

"If that's not complaining, Tegan, I'd hate to see you complain."

"You would," Tegan replied, meaning to be hard about it but there was a catch in her voice. She'd wasted so much of her time on the TARDIS being a right bitch. It was a wonder the Doctor had let her come back. A wonder that he'd been sorry she was leaving. The Australian girl gave herself a mental shake. _Over, past, done._ "Who did you think you were observing?"

"More like what--this end of the Dalek Time Corridor," he said lightly, hard-eyed.

Tegan didn't bother to pretend surprise. "It's closed for business," she let him know in her driest voice.

"I know. I was about to close up shop. Lucky thing I was around to help a pretty lady out of a jam."

This one hid behind the humor. He used the slangy words like they were toys. But he _had_ helped her.

"I feel lucky," Tegan said sincerely.

Her admission was answered by broad smile from Jack. "If I had time, I'd show you how lucky you could be." It was a terrible line, but he had a light touch that denied offensiveness. "The only thing left I can do, is offer you a lift somewhere. Are you sure this is your century, Tegan?"

"This isn't a disguise I'm wearing," she glanced at his clothing. "Yes, I belong here. In Australia, mind, but I'll get the rest of the way myself if you can just get me out of the neighborhood of Hell."

"My pleasure. One moment, please!" Jack moved away and started muttering to his wrist.

Tegan caught something about 'tying up a few loose ends, be right back.' When he was done, she asked, "You're not supposed to be doing this, are you?" This man reminded her a little of the Doctor, only he was much more approachable. Tegan suspected that if there was time Jack would be glad to show her how approachable he could be.

"The rulebook says I should start asking the hard questions, but I'm making an exception. I never met you, Tegan. You don't know anything about Daleks and Time Corridors and you belong right here in this century."

"I know."

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Jack made sure she got to a pay telephone in a safe location. He had to give her the money, too. It was the most he could do for her. He even waited to see if she made her connection; smiled and gave her a proper American thumb's up when Lethbridge-Stewart on the other end recognized the voice and the name Tegan Jovanka. Whom he was shortly never to have met (but he made a note of those names anyway.) She was hiding something without much care that he knew it. Tegan was that stubborn and it was that important to her.

_Why did I bother helping her?_ He shook his head. The Time Agency would probably never know, and they'd better not. Tegan was a time traveler; she'd known the Daleks and what had happened in that warehouse. He should have taken her prisoner and interrogated her.

'_I know_.' Tegan's voice had been so bleak. Looking into those big dark eyes, Jack had seen someone who had walked out of Hell and left her heart behind.

_You were always a sucker for a damsel in distress, Jack Harkness. But there are worse things you could be._

end


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